Mark of the Huntress: Heir to the Darkmage, Book 2 (paperback)

As soon as you make your order, my typing owls send the details straight to my distributor - Bookvault. They print your book and put it in the post. All up, your book(s) should be arriving at your door within 7 - 14 business days.

If it has been 14 days and you still haven't received your book (or an email with a tracking link), please email help@tatehousebooks.com, and I will get onto it ASAP.

Chapter 1
Lira moved quick-footed through the dark library. Lonely books and rolls of parchment sat neatly stacked side by side on endless rows of shelves that towered above her. The air was still. The silence was heavy with a sense of emptiness, abandonment.
Exactly as it had been that night.
Only this time the air wasn’t so cold that her breath frosted in front of her face and there was no terrifying rattling sound echoing through the darkness, like chains being dragged inexorably across the floor.
Lira paused anyway when she reached the edge of the study atrium near the main library entrance, years of living on the dangerous streets of a port city having trained her to always study an open space before entering it. The tables were draped in silvery moonlight from windows high above. Some of the chairs were askew, and scraps of forgotten parchment lay scattered under a centre table. An initiate had left their brown robe hanging off the back of one chair.
It was as she’d expected. Lira had waited until it was nearer dawn than midnight before venturing down the side stairwell from her dormitory level, wanting to be sure the earlier party to welcome back the kidnapped students had finished. Tired initiates and apprentices would seek their beds, not the library.
Her staff hung loose but ready from her left hand. The nightmare of the past few weeks might be over, but she’d never walk into this library unarmed ever again.
Confident the area was clear, Lira set off across the atrium, weaving quickly between tables and chairs, wanting to reach the cover of the shadowy stacks on the opposite side as soon as possible. She did her best to ignore the sharp tug of pain in her left calf and the echoing ache in her right side. Finn A’ndreas and his apprentice healers had done a good job on her multiple injuries, but everything still felt sore when she pushed herself. The stairs down into the library had caused multiple registers of complaint from her still-healing body.
Once she reached the opposite side, her shoulders relaxed, and she slowed her pace, all senses alert for anything that would warn her that she wasn’t alone. But even on a regular day, nobody came to the library this late, including its master, Finn A’ndreas.
Success tonight was vital.
Her position within Underground, a secretive rebel group run by the Shadowcouncil, wavered on a precarious edge. They’d claimed to have kidnapped her along with the other apprentices to maintain her cover with the Mage Council… but Lira still couldn’t shake the look of triumph on Lucinda’s face when Lira had been strapped to that table to be experimented on. It was seared into her memory.
They’d wanted something else from her. And even though she’d been returned alive to Temari Hall along with the others, Lira hadn’t made the mistake of thinking her position within the group was as secure as it had been. She had openly flouted Lucinda in her efforts to survive her kidnapping, and the Shadowcouncil member wasn’t the type to forgive or forget disloyalty.
The only way Lira could think to regain their trust was to complete the task they’d set her before her kidnapping—stealing a letter that Councillor Rawlin Duneskal had written to A’ndreas. If she could get her hands on that, then she could present it to Greyson, the local Underground cell leader, as proof of her contrition and ongoing loyalty to the group.
Of course, she was gambling on the fact that Underground didn’t have good enough access to Temari Hall to have accomplished the task in her absence. But Lira was accustomed to gambling with bad odds.
And if she was successful, she could not only continue spying on Underground for the Mage Council, but more actively help the council destroy them.
Lucinda would burn for what she’d done to Lira.
And if Lira earned the trust and respect of the council in the process, even better. It would only make achieving her ultimate goal that much easier. A seat on the council. All of them seeing her rather than her grandfather.
The door to A’ndreas’ office was closed and locked, but that was no trouble for a telekinetic mage who’d learned to pick locks far trickier than this one by the age of eight. Lira slipped inside and closed the door behind her.
She waited the few moments it took for her eyes to adjust to the dim interior—but even then she could only just make out the piles of parchment and books stacked haphazardly on the desk. It was too dark to make out what any of them were.
Reluctantly, she summoned just enough of her magic to bathe her hands in a violet glow, then began methodically going through what was on the desk. She didn’t want to touch anything she didn’t have to. As chaotic as it looked, Finn A’ndreas was a very clever man, and she doubted he didn’t have some system for managing everything in here. Or a way of noticing if it were different than how he’d left it.
One scrawled note near the centre of his desk caught her eye—her name was written on it, along with the students who had been kidnapped with her. It looked as if he’d been musing on the reasons they’d been taken, or maybe just trying to figure out what had happened to them by putting his thoughts to words. Next to Haler’s name, he’d scrawled a ‘why’ with lots of question marks after it. But what made Lira freeze was what was written beside her name.
‘Who is her father? Is he connected?’
Lira had no idea who her father was, only that he’d been someone her mother knew during the time she’d lived in Karonan, and that he’d had no interest in being a parent. Lira didn’t even know if he’d been aware the mother of his child was the Darkmage’s daughter.
Lira doubted it. Her mother had been so secretive about her identity. And surely her father would have taken more interest if he’d known he’d fathered an heir to Shakar Astor? Especially if he was involved with Shakar’s old network. No, A’ndreas was on the wrong track. Which didn’t help her at all.
A faint creak outside—just one of the shelves settling—broke Lira from her daze. Getting lost in A’ndreas’ musings about her father wasn’t what she was here for. Her father had never been a factor in Lira’s life and that wasn’t going to change. Ignoring the parchment, she continued with her search.
Frustration began to affect her focus as time passed and she had no luck. The violet glow from her magic was bright enough that anyone passing through the dark library would notice it glimmering through the narrow space under A’ndreas’ office door, and even though the chances of that were small, there was only one mage at Temari Hall who wielded magic of that colour.
Nothing on the desk looked like correspondence—it was mostly student homework, research material, and A’ndreas’ musings on various things. The man liked to write a lot of random notes.
Trying to ignore the impatience rising in her chest, she moved her search from the desk to the shelves behind it, forcing herself to slow enough to run her gaze thoroughly and methodically over everything.
Just as she’d decided she was going to have to start physically rifling through the things on his desk and shelves, her searching gaze caught several pages of stacked parchment sticking out from inside a book… and the wax seal on one edge looked familiar. When she gently tugged it out, the full seal of the Mage Council was revealed—the leaping flames of a bonfire.
Glancing behind her to ensure she was still alone, Lira carefully opened the book, took out the parchment, and placed the book back. She searched through the pages, heart leaping in triumph when she saw Councillor Duneskal’s scrawled signature at the bottom of one of the pages.
This had to be the letter the Shadowcouncil was looking for.
Although… the contents didn’t seem particularly interesting or important. Duneskal complaining about doing a favour for A’ndreas by collecting the remains of some old journal from the archives in Carhall. Lira let out a breath. Maybe Underground had just been testing her ability to access A’ndreas.
To be sure, she made quick work of searching over the remaining shelves. But she couldn’t see anything else that looked like a letter, and she didn’t have the time to physically search every document in the room.
It was risky to take the letter with her—A’ndreas would notice it missing sooner rather than later—but she didn’t have time to linger and copy it all out. She’d been in here too long already. She would just have to hope he put the missing letter down to his untidiness.
After carefully folding the parchment and tucking it inside her robe, Lira let go of the trickle of magic she’d been using and stood still until her eyes adjusted back to the dim light. Then she eased the office door open and stared out into the dark row of stacks beyond to make sure they were empty. Assured of that, she slipped out and closed it behind her, using a touch of magic to re-engage the lock.
Just as the lock clicked into place, something made her hesitate. A whisper of noise… no, not even that… more like the faint ripple of another presence in the darkness. Lira froze into complete stillness, like she would have had she felt the same thing on the streets of Dirinan in the early hours of the morning.
Nothing moved. No sounds disturbed the silent library. But the space felt different than it had when she’d been in A’ndreas’ office, heavier, an edge of otherness to it. It wasn’t the fear or cold inspired by a razak, but something more familiar. Something human.
Someone else had come into the library while Lira was searching the office. A smile of anticipation wanted to curl over her face, sparked by the little shiver in the pit of her stomach, but she held it off and kept her focus instead.
Lira started moving, keeping to the shadows. She wasn’t afraid of whoever it was. She was well able to take care of herself, and the darkness was her favourite hunting ground, but she’d rather not be seen. Best that nobody know she’d been in the library tonight. Especially if A’ndreas did notice the missing letter.
And as boring as its contents seemed, the letter tucked in her robe was her ticket back into Underground. Relief loosened her shoulders at the thought of that as she made her way back across the study atrium—ensuring it was empty before breaking cover.
Moving faster once she was back in the dark stacks on the other side, Lira read the presence of someone else just as she headed around a high bookshelf and into the walkway leading to the side stairwell entrance. She slowed, drawing on her magic at the same time her left hand reached for her staff.
“Truce?” The Darkhand stepped out of the shadows, hands in the air.
Lira stopped dead. The sight of Ahrin Vensis was an emotional fist to the gut of combined longing, despair, grief, and fury… the fury directed at herself, for feeling any of those other things. They were a mirage. A useless pit of emotion that served no good purpose because there was no point to them.
Because Ahrin Vensis felt nothing for Lira.
Worse, she was Lira’s enemy now.
“What do you want?” she asked, pleased that her voice came out flat and uninterested. At least now she knew what had tripped her instincts earlier. A shiver of foreboding rippled through her, similar to the one she’d felt earlier when she’d spotted Ahrin in initiate robes at the party. What was the Darkhand doing at Temari Hall?
Ahrin took a step forward, everything about her relaxed, at ease. “I admit to curiosity as to what you’re doing in here at this hour.”
“You can’t be half as curious as I am as to why you’re here,” Lira countered.
A little half-smile was all she got in response.
“You’re really not going to tell me?” Lira snapped. “Are you here to spy on me, kill me? Kidnap more students? Murder everyone in their sleep without breaking a sweat?”
“Did you just pay me a compliment?” Ahrin’s smile widened.
Lira said nothing, merely held the girl’s gaze, not letting that smile get through her guard. Ahrin was masterful at faking emotion—from charming rogue, brisk businesswoman, seductress, to ruthless killer. She wore the guises as perfectly as she wore her long coats, a tool she deployed to get whatever she wanted. But none of them were real. The only time Lira ever thought Ahrin was her true self was when she killed or fought. Then… well, those times she was at her most dangerous, but also most genuine.
Ahrin shrugged when Lira didn’t respond, voice turning businesslike. “My purpose with regards to you is entirely dependent on whether you’re still loyal to Underground.”
“And if I’m not, you’re going to kill me?” She lifted an eyebrow. “Here in the middle of the Temari Hall library.”
In an instant, Ahrin was inches away from her, so close Lira could see the flat, killing look in Ahrin’s eyes, feel her warm breath on the skin of her cheek. So close she could have cut Lira’s throat already if that had been her intention. “You know I can. And would.”
“But not tonight, I take it?” Lira lifted an eyebrow, refusing to back down in any way. Standing in the dark, so close to death, the thrill stirred in the base of her belly. It offered to warm her, make her brave and unstoppable.
“Control it, Lira, don’t let it control you.” Ahrin’s voice was cold, as if she could see exactly what was going on inside Lira. “You’re playing with fire and you won’t come out the winner if you step wrong.”
“I don’t take orders from you any longer,” Lira murmured, shifting even closer, demonstrating her lack of fear. “And I like fire.”
“I warned you not to get in my way.”
She had. And she’d meant it. And still Lira wasn’t scared. She smiled a little, the edges of her mouth curling up even though deep down she knew Ahrin was stronger and could kill her in a blink. “And I warned you not to get in mine.”
“Then it seems we’re at a stalemate.” Ahrin’s eyes glittered dangerously. “Not for long, Lira Astor.”
Lira held her gaze a moment longer, then shrugged. “I’m going to bed.” She walked around Ahrin, deliberately leaving her back exposed to the other girl. “Enjoy the empty library. It’s peaceful this time of night.”
No attack came, and Lira found herself almost disappointed by that. When she glanced back a few steps later, the Darkhand had vanished into the shadows of the library. Her gaze narrowed—what had Ahrin been doing in here tonight?
In case Ahrin had feinted before circling back to follow her, Lira veered away from her planned route and went for the main library entrance instead. The study atrium was just as empty—no sign of Ahrin anywhere—as Lira crossed it and walked down toward the main doors. Part of her noticed that the bloodstains where Fari’s dead friend had lain sprawled that night had been scrubbed clean away.
Lira pushed through the left door, only to freeze when it was halfway open, shock whispering through her. The bloodied corpse of one of the school’s guard dogs lay sprawled on the floor just beyond the doors, mere steps away. It was barely recognisable, deep slashing wounds tearing open several areas of its body where it lay in a widening pool of blood.
The kill was fresh.
The air was cold, but normal winter cold. No rattle broke the silence. And if a razak had killed the dog, there wouldn’t be so much blood.
This was something, or someone, else.
Lira drew her staff as she thought back to the prickling of her instincts when leaving A’ndreas’ office. She’d assumed Ahrin had tripped them, and maybe Ahrin had done this… no, the Darkhand was a trained killer, not a sadist. She killed for a purpose, not for pleasure, and she killed efficiently. This dog had been torn apart.
A quick glance around revealed an empty corridor and stairwell. The instincts that had roused earlier were dormant now, suggesting whatever had done it was gone. Uneasiness flickered through her, but she dismissed it after only a brief hesitation. Her focus had to be on winning her way back into Underground, not getting caught so close to the library at this hour.
With quick strides, Lira circled the corpse and headed straight up the stairs. Someone would find the dog in the morning and the Temari Hall masters could deal with it. She had the letter she needed. Anything else wasn’t her problem.
Even so, the bloody sight lingered in her dreams as she slept that night, refusing to be completely banished.
Instinct warned her she should ignore it at her peril.